Police official nabbed for extortion in Batangas
By Justine Rich Talusan
A POLICE captain accused of demanding weekly “payola” from a former operator of an illegal numbers’ game was arrested in Batangas.
Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group director Brig. Gen. Warren de Leon identified the suspect as Capt. Ruben Marilag, deputy station commander of the Balayan Municipal Police Station.
Marilag was arrested following days of surveillance triggered by a complaint that he was demanding a weekly P2,000 payola from a former lotteng operator in Balayan.
However, the complainant said he had already stopped his illegal gambling activities after being diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2021.
“Despite this, the suspect insisted that the complainant must give him P2,000 a week supposedly as protection money,” said de Leon.
Members of the IMEG Luzon Field Unit, PNP Special Action Force’s 35th Special Action Company, the Batangas Police Provincial Office and the Balayan Municipal Police Station arrested the suspect in an entrapment operation in front of the Robinson’s Bank near their police station.
Recovered from the police captain were the boodle money topped by a marked P1,000 bill, his PNP-issued cal. 9mm Pietro Beretta semi-automatic pistol with magazine containing 14 live ammunition, a wallet containing several identification cards, and P3,450 in different denominations.
Marilag was brought to the PNP-IMEG headquarters in Camp Crame for booking and further investigation.
